# I Was Buying Kratom At The Gas Station Every Morning Just To Function....It Destroyed Me

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/rise-above-with-kevin-lanning-6803198/i-was-buying-kratom-at-the-gas-station-every-morning-just-to-function-it-destroyed-me
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/rise-above-with-kevin-lanning-6803198/i-was-buying-kratom-at-the-gas-station-every-morning-just-to-function-it-destroyed-me.md
Podcast: [Rise Above with Kevin Lanning](https://stenobird.com/podcast/rise-above-with-kevin-lanning-6803198)
Published: 2026-07-15T21:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/AKTBA6689564329.mp3
Audio file: https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/AKTBA6689564329.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/rise-above-with-kevin-lanning-6803198/episodes/i-was-buying-kratom-at-the-gas-station-every-morning-just-to-function-it-destroyed-me
Duration seconds: 4463

## Resource

Matt Von Boecklin grew up outside Seattle, raised by a single mother after his father suffered a mental break when Matt was a toddler and had to be cared for in a home. A socially anxious kid always reaching for the edge of the cool crowd, Matt found early that alcohol quieted that feeling — and years later, a motorcycle accident introduced him to opiates and opened a door he says was impossible to un-see. What followed was a global, restless run — tramadol by the pocketful in Mexico, a rock-bottom withdrawal alone in Nairobi crying on a shower floor, and finally the substance almost nobody talks about honestly: kratom, and its concentrated form 7-OH, sold legally over the counter at gas stations and smoke shops. This episode is essential listening on a crisis that's exploding right now, because Matt lived it and beat it. He describes buying "feel free" bottles and the hardest-hitting extract shots every single morning just to get through work meetings, seeing double, losing his balance, hiding it from the fiancée he loved, and the shame of driving a mile and a half for a fix in the time it should've taken to grab a bagel. Here's what makes his story valuable: Matt is a chemical engineer, and he approached quitting like an engineer. He built himself a "quit kit" of non-prescription supplements to manage the brutal withdrawals, did the reading, and finally threw the last shot in the trash before a trivia night with his fiancée. Now 2 years sober, he can speak with rare clarity about how these legal products hook people who never thought of themselves as addicts — and exactly what it takes to get free. If you or someone you love is stuck on kratom or 7-OH and telling yourself it's fine because it's legal, this is the episode to hear. Matt Von Boecklin grew up outside Sea…

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## Transcript

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